First off, According to a child_lit member, “In the first 50 books, there are only 8 books published since the turn of the century. The average age of the first 50 books? 44. The average publication date is 1969.”

And I noticed that some of the titles/series seem to belong on another, slightly younger recommended list, such as, Sarah Plain and Tall, Romana, the Little House series and Hundred Dresses. Or perhaps I’m off base here? I’m also surprised that there is no School Life section — perhaps it should be grouped with Family Life.

Here are the rest of the sections and my Wish Lists!

Family Life (I want School Life to be added here)

Agreeing:

Walk Two Moons (11, 12, 13)

The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963 (10, 11, 12)

One Crazy Summer (10, 11, 12)

FAIRROSA’S WISH LIST

Casson Family series (Saffy’s Angel and sequels) (10, 11, 12)

Frindle (if School Life is here) (9, 10)

Al Capone Does My Shirts (9, 10, 11)

Bell Prater’s Boy (9, 10, 11)

A Corner of the Universe (11, 12, 13)

Fantasy Worlds

Agreeing:

The Chronicles of Prydain (10, 11, 12)

Peter Pan (11, 12, 13, 14)

Oz, The Complete Collection (10, 11, 12)

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (9, 10, 11)

The City of Ember (shouldn’t this be SciFi?) (9, 10, 12)

A Wizard of Earthsea (12, 13, 14)

The Chronicles of Narnia (10, 11, 12)

The Giver (11, 12, 13, 14)

His Dark Materials (11, 12, 13, 14)

The Hobbit, Or, There And Back Again (9, 10, 11, 12)

FAIRROSA’S WISH LIST

(Fantasy is my favorite genre, so I can probably come up with about 50 Must Reads just here.. haha… )

Gregor the Overlander series (9, 10, 11, 12)

Bartimaeus series (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)

Howl’s Moving Castle (10, 11, 12, 13)

Inkheart (11, 12, 13)

The Neverending Story (11, 12, 13)

Friendships And Finding Your Place (probably school stories can go here, too)

Agreeing:

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda (9, 10, 11)

Are You There, God? (10, 11, 12)

The Secret Garden (9, 10, 11, 12)

Harriet the Spy (9, 10, 11)

Wonder (9, 10, 11, 12)

Bridge to Terabithia (10, 11, 12)

Holes (9, 10, 11, 12)

Maniac Magee (10, 11, 12)

FAIRROSA’S WISH LIST:

Hope Was Here (11, 12, 13)

So B. It (10, 11, 12)

A Mango Shaped Space (10, 11, 12, 13)

Olive’s Ocean (10, 11, 12)

Six Innings (10, 11, 12)

Black and White (13, 14, and older)

Good For A Laugh

Agreeing.. sort of:

Matilda (Not really just funny.. should be in Everyday Magic) (9, 10, 11)

I’m reading the Casson books for the first time this summer and feeling really cheated I didn’t bond with them earlier. I can agree with most your additions. But I’m imbalanced in my love for OKAY FOR NOW, so we will need to part ways over your omission.